Chapter 28: The Centennial

Abby's POV

"A hundred years ago this summer," Ward said into the microphone, "a man named Renner filed a claim on a patch of Wyoming dirt."

He said it warmly, with his hat in his hand.

Three hundred people settled into their folding chairs.

Behind him, the banner flapped on the barn.

"Every one of us started with him," Ward said.

Beside me, Lorna didn't move.

Her purse sat on her knees, and her hands lay folded over the clasp.

"We've had good years and hard ones," Ward went on. "Droughts, blizzards, a bad market."

His voice dropped.

"And we have had sorrow. A man learns what a family is when it's tested."

He paused.

He looked at the front row, at my mother-in-law, and then at me.

"My son Jesse has a daughter," Ward said.

The lawn went quiet.

"A two-year-old girl. A lovely child. He didn't tell his wife for two years."

He let that sit.

"When the mother finally came to this ranch to ask for help, he stood in silence while his wife drove them off."

A murmur rolled through the chairs.

Jesse's whole body went tight beside me.

I put my hand flat on his knee.

"Keep your face still," I said, under my breath.

"I can't," he whispered.

"Then I'll hold it for you."

"I won't name what happened," Ward said, kindly. "A man's mistakes are between him and his Maker."

He lifted one finger.

"But a child is not a mistake. A child is a Renner, and a Renner is never turned away."

He turned to the back table.

"Today I am taking Charlotte into this family."

His voice rang.

"She will be raised in this house, under my care, and she will carry our name."

He lifted a small brass plate for the crowd to see.

"Because her father abandoned her," Ward said. "And his wife would not have her."

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